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Psychology Paper 1 > Social Influence > Flashcards

Social Influence Flashcards

1
Q

What is Asch’s baseline procedure of conformity

A

-a line judgement task where he placed 1 participant in a room with 7 confederates who had decided on a wrong answer.
- They were given 3 lines labelled A,B,C that matched a line labelled X
-One was clearly the same length as X
-On average participants agreed with confederates around 35%

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2
Q

What were the 3 variables investigated by Asch

A

Group size
Unanimity
Task difficulty

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3
Q

Describe Group size in variables effecting conformity

A

Asch increased the size of the group by adding more confederates
-Conformity increased with group but only up to a point
-When the majority was greater than 3 conformity levelled off
-one or two confeds were enough to sway people

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4
Q

Describe Unanimity in variables effecting conformity

A

Asch added a non conforming confederate who gave a different (but wrong) answer
-The participant conformed less in the presence of this confederate

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5
Q

Describe Task difficulty in variables effect

A

Asch increased difficulty by making stimulus lines and comparison lines more similar
-Conformity increased as it was less clear what answer was right
-An example of informational social influence

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6
Q

What is one strength of Asch’s conformity study

A

Replicable, standardised procedure

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7
Q

Give 2 limitations of Asch’s study

A

Ethical issues, deception - participants thought confederates were also participants

demand characteristics - they knew they were part of a study

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8
Q

What are the 3 types of conformity

A

Internalisation
Identification
Compliance

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9
Q

What is Internalisation in types of conformity

A

Accepts group norms and changes behaviour in public and private (permanent change)

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10
Q

What is Identification in types of conformity

A

Publicly changing behaviour/ opinions to identify with a group we value but privately not believing in it

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11
Q

What is Compliance in types of conformity

A

Results in only a superficial change in behaviour/ opinions publicly due to group pressure but privately not changing
-When the pressure goes so does the behaviour

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12
Q

What are the 2 explanations for conformity

A

Informational social influence
Normative social influence

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13
Q

What is Informational social influence in explanations for conformity

A

We accept the opinion of the majority because are uncertain of what’s right and want to be correct

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14
Q

What is Normative social influence in explanations for conformity

A

We conform to social norms of the majority for social approval

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15
Q

What is a strength of Normative social influence

A

Asch study (unanimity) shows people will conform despite the truth just because its the majority

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16
Q

What is a strength of Informational social influence

A

Asch study (Task difficulty) shows if people are unsure of the correct answer they are more likely to conform

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17
Q

What was Zimbardo’s study of conformity to social roles?

A

-He converted a basement of Stanford university into a mock prison and the men were randomly assigned either a prisoner or guard
-They were each given uniform and the prisoners were identified as numbers
- The guards quickly became brutal and the prisoners rebelled
-The guards carried on harassing the prisoners to remind them their powerless
-and soon the prisoners got depressed, the brutality got too much so Zimbardo ended the study

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18
Q

What is a strength of Zimbardo’s study

A

high internal validity- control over the variables, meaning we can be confident in drawing conclusions about behaviour from the study (e.g. Random sampling)

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19
Q

What are 2 limitations of Zimbardo’s study

A

Ethical issues (Protection from harm) people developed depression due to it and some even left with psychological issues

(Beta bias) It was tested on all males who tend to be more aggressive

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20
Q

What was Milgram’s Study of Obedience?

A

He tested men from Yale university to understand why the Germans obeyed Hitler
- Participant was the teacher, Confederate was the learner and another Confederate was the experimenter
-The teacher had to give an electric shock every time the learner make a mistake
-The shocks increased with each mistake 15-450 volts
-Every participant delivered all shocks up to 300v
-65% carried on up to 450v

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21
Q

What is a strength of Milgram’s study of obedience?

A

Replications - in a French documentary, people had to give electric shocks to others. 80% gave maximum. Behaviour was similar. Supports original conclusions.

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22
Q

Give 2 limitations of Milgram’s study of obedience

A

Ethical issues - Deception

Lacks generalisability, only tested on middle class men from America

23
Q

What were the 3 situational variables Milgram identified

A

Uniform
Proximity
Location

24
Q

What is Proximity in situational variables of Milgram’s study

A

In the baseline study the Teacher and the learner weren’t in the same room
-In the proximity variation they were
-Obedience dropped from 65% to 40%

25
What is Location in situational variables of Milgram's study
Milgram conducted the location variation in a run down office rather than yale -Obedience fell from 65% to 47%
26
What is Uniform in situational variables of Milgram's study
In the baseline study the experimenter wore a lab coat -In the Uniform variation he wore regular clothes -Conformity dropped from 65% to 20%
27
What are 2 limitations of Situational variables of Milgram's study
Ethical issues - Deception Lacks generalisability, only tested on middle class men from America
28
What are the 2 situational explanations for obedience
Milgram proposed: Agentic state Legitimacy of authority
29
What is Agentic state?
Obedience occurs when acting as an agent for an authority figure, this takes away the responsibility
30
What is legitimacy of authority?
We are more likely to obey to those who we perceive have having legitimate authority in the eyes of society -When the authority is taken to far this is referred to as (destructive authority) e.g. Hitler
31
What is a strength of Agentic state?
Milgram's own research - Some participants asked who's responsible and when the experimenter took responsibility they carried on with no objections
32
What is a limitation of Agentic state?
Members of the German Reserve Police Battalion 101 murdered civilians without being ordered to do so. They acted autonomously out of hatred
33
What is a strength of legitimacy of authority
Hofling- nurses obeyed orders to give an overdose of an unknown drug by a fake doctor giving instructions over the phone.
34
What is the Authoritarian personality in dispositional explanation
Adorno -People with this personality, show extreme respect for authority -And show contempt for those of inferior social status -Due to harsh parenting and conditional love -Creates hostility that cannot be expressed against parents so is displaced onto scapegoats (inferiors)
35
How is the Authoritarian personality measured
Adorno - F scale of white Americans unconscious fascist attitudes towards other social groups -People with the A personality scored high on the test and showed traits of obedience
36
Give 2 limitations of the Authoritarian personality
personality is known to be difficult to empirically test and is thought to vary in certain contexts F scale is a questionnaire and is hence based on self-report so susceptible to social desirability bias
37
What are the 2 reasons for resistance to Social influence
Social support Locus of control
38
What is social support in resistance to social influence
Resistance to conformity- Asch, Unanimity (the confederate who didn't conform provided social support) Resistance to Obedience- Milgram (obedience dropped when another confederate was added who disobeyed)
39
What is Locus of control in resistance to social influence
Rottor: High internal LOC - believe things that happen are controlled by themselves High external LOC - believe things that happen are outside of their control The LOC continuum - low internal and low external lie in-between
40
What is a strength of social support in resistance to social influence
an American programme for pregnant teens to resist the pressure to smoke. The girls who were given a buddy were significantly less likely to smoke compared to the group without
41
What is one limitation of social support in resistance to social influence
Asch's and Milgram's study both has ethical issues so they aren't reliable
42
What is minority influence
When a small group of people influence others to adopt their beliefs, leads to internalisation in which private and public attitudes change
43
What are the 3 features of minority influence
Consistency Commitment Flexibility
44
What is consistency in minority influence
Minority influence is most effective when they keep the same beliefs over time and between all individuals of the group
45
What is Commitment in minority influence
Minority influence is more powerful when they demonstrate dedication to their belief e.g. making personal sacrifices
46
What is Flexibility in minority influence
Need to be prepared to adapt their point of view, making compromise and accept valid counterarguments
47
What was Moscovicis research in minority influence
-A group of 6 people were asked to to view a set of 36 blue coloured slides that varied in intensity -Then state whether the slides were blue or green -In each group there were 2 confederates who consistently said the slides were green -The participants agreed with the confederates on 8.42% of the slides
48
What is a strength of minority influence
Moscovici blue/ green slide study showed that a consistent minority opinion had a greater effect on changing the views of others than an inconsistent opinion
49
Whats a limitation of minority influence
Moscovicis study lacks external validity and doesn't tell us much about minority influence in real life situations.
50
What are the 6 steps of how minority influence led to social change
American civil rights movement: Drawing attention - Civil rights marches drew attention to the segregation Consistency - Millions took part in marches over the years Deeper processing - people who had accepting the status quo started to rethink Augmentation principle- Many risked their lives Snowball effect - MLK got attention of the government Crypto amnesia - people have no memory of what led to the change as its the new norm
51
What is a strength of minority influence
Nemeth - claims social change is due to the type of thinking that minorities inspire -When considering minority arguments they engage in divergent thinking -this type of thinking is broad rather than narrow
52
What is a limitation of minority influence
There are many people who are fixed in their views and are unwilling to change. e.g. people were less likely to behave in environmentally friendly ways due to the stigma of stereotypical "tree huggers"
53
Who are the researchers for social influence
Asch Zimbardo Milgram Hofling Adorno Moscovici Nemeth

Psychology Paper 1 (4 decks)

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